Memphis running back Darrell Henderson (8) fends off Connecticut linebacker Vontae Diggs (13) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller (3) tangles with Connecticut defensive back Brice McAllister (16) as Miller catches a touchdown pass in the end zone during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Memphis wide receiver Anthony Miller (3) tangles with Connecticut defensive back Brice McAllister (16) as Miller catches a touchdown pass in the end zone during the second half of an NCAA college football game,

Connecticut players jump onto the back of tight end Alec Bloom to celebrate Bloom's touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Memphis, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut players jump onto the back of tight end Alec Bloom to celebrate Bloom's touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Memphis, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in East Hartford,

Connecticut tight end Alec Bloom (86) escapes a tackle from Memphis defensive back Jonathan Cook (14) on the way to a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)

Connecticut tight end Alec Bloom (86) escapes a tackle from Memphis defensive back Jonathan Cook (14) on the way to a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Oct. 6, 2017, in

EAST HARTFORD — There could be only one word to describe the events of the nearly four hour long Friday night showdown at Rentschler Field.

Randy Edsall, the winningest coach in UConn football history, didn't need much prodding to describe the second half play of his team as embarrassing. A few minutes later, senior linebacker Vontae Diggs termed the 70-31 loss to visiting Memphis as an embarrassment.

The UConn defense came into the game allowing more passing yards than any other Football Bowl Subdivision team this season and as frightening as those numbers might have looked going into the game, they will be even harder to digest when the new statistics are tabulated.

Memphis' 70 points are the most ever given up by UConn, breaking the mark of 69 that was set in a 1919 game against Holy Cross. The 711 yards allowed are the most by an FBS team this season.

"I have never in my life had a team put 70 points on me," Diggs said. "It is an embarrassment. As a leader on this team, I take full responsibility."

Despite allowing Riley Ferguson to throw four touchdown passes in the second quarter and Anthony Miller to snare three of his American Athletic Conference tying record four touchdown receptions in that 15-minute stretch, the Huskies were only down 11 at halftime. However, the Tigers scored touchdowns on five of their six second half possessions.

"The frustrating part is how can you go for a quarter and a half and do that, then all of a sudden explode," Edsall said. "That is the thing I am trying to figure out, what we can do, but guys have to believe in it and understand it is a 60-minute game. You have to strain, we are trying to play other guys to help them out too. I don't know what we can do. We aren't going to the waiver wire, we aren't bringing guys in to try out and work them out, add them to the roster. All we can do is work and get better collectively — coaches, players everybody, we are all in this together."

The game started in impressive fashion as senior running back Arkeel Newsome bolted for a 64-yard touchdown on the third offensive play to give UConn the early lead. It was the first time in 19 games that the Huskies scored a touchdown on their opening possession.

Ferguson tied it with a 30-yard TD pass to Sean Dykes before Nate Hopkins' 1-yard TD run allowed the Huskies to take a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

Ferguson tied the AAC record with seven touchdown passes, even though he didn't play in the fourth quarter. He had scoring strikes of 17, 8 and 40 yards to Miller and a 14-yard touchdown pass to Tony Pollard in an action-packed second quarter. UConn answered with Bryant Shirreffs' 30-yard TD pass to Alec Bloom and Michael Tarbutt's 37-yard field goal to go into the locker room at halftime down 35-24.

Joey Magnifico (5 yards), and Miller (32 yards) caught TD passes and Doroland Dorceus, who came into the game with 12 rushing yards, had scoring runs of 7 and 26 yards to give the Tigers (4-1, 1-1) the 63-24 lead after three quarters.

Newsome had a 13-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter as he ran for a season high 114 yards. He became the first UConn player since Deshon Foxx in 2014 to have 100-yard rushing and receiving games in the same season.

Mechane Slade capped the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown catch from David Moore with 1:42 left to play.

Miller finished with 224 receiving yards on 15 receptions for the Tigers. The four TD receptions ties a conference record set by Courtland Sutton of Southern Methodist.

Anthony Watkins, who missed the last two games with a concussion, had 12 tackles for UConn. Junior Joseph also had 12 stops as he became the 26th UConn player with 250 career stops.

Starting offensive guard Cam DeGeorge and defensive tackle Foley Fatukasi both were knocked out of the game with injuries, although Edsall didn't have updates on either one of them after the game.